Roast Goose

By Sam Sifton

Roast Goose
Evan Sung for The New York Times
Total Time
3 hour 15 minutes, plus at least 7 hours' seasoned refrigeration
Rating
4(443)
Comments
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Here is a bird that throws off a lot of beautiful fat in the oven. You will use some of it to cook the potatoes that go in the roasting pan for the final hour of cooking, but you will have taken off quite a bit before that as well. You can save that goose fat, covered, in the refrigerator for a few weeks, until the next time you want incredible roast potatoes. The British serve roast goose with a sauce of onions sauteed in goose fat, then stewed in milk and cream and thickened with old bread. But I prefer something tart rather than rich — a cranberry relish, for instance, sweetened but not overly so.

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 10 to 12.
  • 1whole goose, approximately 12 pounds
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 3pounds small potatoes, ideally red or Yukon gold, peeled
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

905 calories; 74 grams fat; 22 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 39 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 37 grams protein; 777 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Rinse and dry the goose, rub it inside and out with salt and refrigerate uncovered for at least 6 hours, or overnight. The next morning, rub goose well with paper towels, then allow it to sit on a rack in the kitchen for about an hour, to come to room temperature. Trim wing tips and excess fat from goose and reserve for another use.

  2. Step 2

    Preheat oven to 325. Using a clean needle or sharply pointed knife, prick the skin of the goose all over, to allow the fat to run when it roasts. Stick the skin at an angle, so as to pierce just the skin and not the meat of the bird. Season the goose with salt and pepper, then place the rack in a deep roasting pan, and cook for one hour.

  3. Step 3

    Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for approximately 3 to 5 minutes, then drain and reserve the potatoes.

  4. Step 4

    After an hour’s roasting, remove the goose from the oven, and pour off the fat from the pan, reserving for another use. Put the goose on its rack back in the pan and add the potatoes. Roast for another hour.

  5. Step 5

    After the goose has roasted for 2 hours total, reduce oven to 275 and continue roasting approximately 30 to 45 minutes, about 15 minutes per pound total, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees at the center of the breast. Remove goose to a carving board and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving. The bird may be served at room temperature if you like.

  6. Step 6

    Remove potatoes from pan and keep them warm under foil until ready to serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
443 user ratings
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Comments

Stephanie

Made this as my first goose for Christmas dinner 2015. I dry brined the goose for a few days, then air dried the skin in the fridge for 12 hours. I put purple, red and yellow new potatoes below the rack. Perfection. Next time I will rotate the goose about every 30-60 minutes (as I do a turkey) to get the thighs to cook quicker, and leave the breast slightly rosy. I froze the excess fat for future use, and even made a goose stock with the carcass for a future soup or gravy.

Stephen

Wow, what a great Christmas dinner! Goose is so rich and flavorful. We used a Splendid Table recipe to make a giblet gravy, to which we added the liver as well. That wasn't suggested by the recipe, but it worked out wonderfully. I would not endorse foregoing the potatoes cooked in goose fat, because they are sublime. There'll still be plenty of room for apples, cranberries or other fruit-themed side dishes.

Lisa

Started with an 8 lb goose. 1 hr 15 min to reach internal temperature of 165 F. Set oven to 450 F for 10 min to crisp skin. Best goose ever!

mugwort

I’ve tried this twice now, and though I find the goose tases wonderful (especially with a few pierced citrus fruit and a head of garlic in the cavity) the timing is way off. Our 5 kilo goose was tough as shoe leather at 3:45 hours. “One hour per kilo”, said a disappointed guest, and I reckon he was right. Perhaps our birds are more muscular here in Greece than in the U.S? I’d take the timing with a grain of salt, if I were you. Also, I cooked the potatoes separately, poured off most of the juices an hour before the end, and made gravy by using them to deglaze the caramelised pan. This, too, I recommend.

Somerville Tom

I made the mistake of following this recipe with an 11 lb goose. After the 2 hour roasting at 325 deg F, the breast was already at 168 deg F. The juices from the thigh are still red. I don't believe that the author of this recipe actually FOLLOWED these instructions. I've now turned the oven down to 250 deg F and put the bird back in for another hour. This a recipe for disaster -- not what I needed for Christmas.

Linda Dietrich

Yummy.

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